Page 51 of Sapphire Nights
He stood there awkwardly, balancinghis sandwich and drink, until Sam relented and scooted over to let him sit. “Got mehow?”
“The evil force,” Cass said with cheer. “Sam is finally convinced that evilexists.”
“Negativity,” Sam corrected. “Negativity is not necessarily evil. Saying spiteful things isn’tevil.”
“Will I regret sitting here?” Walker asked, nearly draining his glass before biting into his sandwich.Dinah could even make cheese and tomato taste likeheaven.
“You need to stop talking like a Null if you want my aunt to tell you why your father may have been up here,” Samwarned.
Since she was glaring at Cass instead of him, Walker settled down to listen. “And there’s a reason she’s telling menow?”
“I had no reason to know your father died here,” Cass said with dignity.“You deserve to know that it’s myfault.”
Pow, right in the gut. Walker lost his appetite and studied the old woman. She still looked like a university professor, and she didn’t show an ounce of guilt, just regret. “Okay, I’ll bite. What did youdo?”
“I reported massive land theft and mortgage fraud. I reported it everywhere, to the FBI, to the banks involved, to the attorney general,to the governor. Occasionally, people listen, especially when one has a little money andinfluence.”
Walker ripped off half his sandwich with his teeth and chewed while he contemplated this declaration. He figured she’d used more than money to grease wheels. She’d had evidence. He washed the bread down with more water that had miraculously been refilled while he chewed. He glanced up tosee Daisy walking around with a water pitcher. He could easily see how one could lose one’s mind up here. Distraction created illusion which led to moredistraction...
Focus, Walker. “You don’t know which agency senthim?”
Land theft and mortgage fraud—that had to be the Kennedys. Cass had turned on her own family? He’d have one of his men find the files, once he knew where tolook.
“No, as I said, I didn’t meet your father. If he was asking questions, he was very discreet about it. All I felt was his spirit when we tried to reach Zach. I’m so very sorry we didn’t try to communicate more. We weren’t quite as attentive backthen.”
“You mean you were doing drugs and you heard voices,” Walker said dryly. He knew how that worked. His late wife hadn’t talkedto spirits, just the characters in her head—until one of them told her to shoot herself and herfamily.
He had to let that pain go, keep his mind open. Accusing Cass accomplishednothing.
The old woman let his bitterness slide right off her. “Some of us did drugs, maybe, not all. I’m sorry you don’t believe the spirits are real, but someone suspects we talk with them. That’s whythey burned across,although they misjudged the solstice in their ignorance. They were warding againstevil.”
Here was a more relevant subject. Walker eyed Sam as he took a more polite bite of his sandwich. Sometimes, it was just easier to let women talk and sift through the rubblelater.
“As I understand it, the Lucys performed an exorcism for Juan to speed him from this planeto the next,” Sam said carefully. “That’s what you saw with the bright light. Burning a cross completes a greater function, one that exorcizeswitches.”
Walker’s first response wasThat’s crazy, but he didn’t say it aloud. “Or they wanted you to think that was the purpose, but their real intent was to hide their crimes or burn out the people who live upthere.”
“Or all of the above,”Sam agreed, waiting expectantly for hisreaction.
As he was learning, the world was full of crazies, but sometimes, they were right. “We need a different word for crazy,” he concluded. “There’s crazy that believes in spirits and there’s a worse kind of crazy that tries to set towns onfire.”
Cass smiled approvingly. “I think you’re starting to understand. We cannot call people crazyjust because they think or behave or see things differently. For all I know, burning crosses works. As Sam says, experimentation isrequired.”
“A little hard to observe and test a hypothesis of evil.” Walker finished off his water. He didn’t want to leave without further questioning, but it was late, and he needed to get back. “You might have to burn a saint to see if you get a differentresult.”
Sam laughed. “Well, yes, killing someone is probably the dividing line between crazy andlucid.”
“Whoever burned that cross could just be sending a message to Menendez, which would put the Kennedys right up there as suspects with the Lucys. So unless someone walks in here reeking of kerosene, I think we’re back to scientific evidence.” Just in case he could persuade rationalityout of the stubborn woman, he faced down Cass. “I don’t suppose you’d like to tell me about themassive landfraud?”
She delicately sipped her tea. “It’s old history, dear, over and done. It’s too late to do anythingmore.”
Yeah, that’s what he figured she’d say. He could still dig into archives. He stood up and left a stack of cash on the table, enough to cover Dinah’s costs forthefiremen.
“I’ll tell her Carmen made a donation, shall I?” Sam askedmischievously.
She knew he could afford presidential suites. The rest of the town didn’t need to. “That could go a long way toward mending the rift,” he acknowledged. “Thanks.”
He knew no one would believe her lie, but he liked that she’d muddied thewaters.
He needed to get back to cell phone receptionso he could call his office. He had experts qualified in hunting down nearly twenty-year-old mortgage fraudcases.
The question remained, what did any of this have to do with Juan’s death and burningcrosses?
